Sticks and Stones
by SunlightShrine
Summary: When her best friend's fiance disappears from town, Cremia finds herself at the mercy of malicious rumors spread by the citizens of Clock Town. Rated T just for safety.
1. Chapter 1: Rumors

**Author's Note: This was a fic that I had written a long time ago. But I wasn't too satisfied with it... I found it while going through some old files and did some rework on it.**

**I feel better about it now. :) So much better. ^_^**

**Before reading... you might want to send Cremia a hug in your mind, she's going to need it.**

* * *

"Link!"

Young Romani happily skipped over to her green clad hero and embraced him tightly the minute she recognized him coming toward the little house on the ranch, "I thought you had left Termina already!"

Link shyly returned her hug, "Nah, I still have business here."

"Let's go in the house to talk, come on in!"

As she skipped to the house humming a blissful tune, Link followed behind her anxiously.

"Okay here we are! Have a seat make yourself at home!" Romani cheered once they were in the house, "How about a cup of tea?" She walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a pint of tea, pouring herself and Link an elegant glass cup. Link sat in the guest chair, deep in thought.

The adorable girl placed the tea in front of him, "Here you go."

Link looked at his reflection in the tea, "Thanks Romani."

She placed her own tea in front of her chair and had a seat, "So, what's going on?"

"I just came by to see if everything's okay..." Link drummed his fingers on the table, nervously pondering on how he would ask what he was about to ask.

The young ranch girl proved to be a lot less naïve than she lets on, "Romani knows… My sister has someone in town she likes. But that person… is going to get married on the day of the carnival to her friend."

Link winced, "Ouch… that's got to hurt."

Romani nodded, "But the person she likes has disappeared from town… and now people are saying bad things about my sister…"

"Oh… Poor Cremia…"

The innocent girl nodded approvingly, "So it's been so hard for her to go into town..."

The Hero of Time sighed, "I bet it is."

Link may not completely understand these grown up matters, but he knows them well enough to realize that the emotional stress on Cremia has gotten enormous. It's one thing to have someone you like be in love with someone else, but the fact the person is getting married… that could be devastating.

Of all the bad luck, the person vanishes without a trace… and now Cremia's the one catching the heat.

"Why are they saying these things about her?" Romani vehemently asked.

He couldn't understand it himself, what prompts these people to gossip? For power? To make themselves feel more important? Seriously, what business is it of theirs? If it doesn't have anything to do with them, why do they care?

Link shook his head, "Because it's easier."

Romani looked confused, "Easier? What do you mean by that?"

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "It's less brain work. I mean, no one really wants to put forth the effort to find out what's really going on… And… it may make them feel better about themselves if they feel their morals and standards are higher than someone else's."

"That's stupid!" Romani objected, "How can anyone say mean stuff about others without knowing for sure what happened?"

"They just don't know what else to think… But I'll tell you this, we both know that your sister is a wonderful person. Not even the worst label can change that."

The situation made Link felt a bit awkward. He's always been the one to receive the comfort, but this time the roles were now reversed. Romani gave a warm smile, which assured him that he must have said the right things.

"Thanks grasshopper. I'll make sure my sister keeps her head held high! Because she's worth more than that!"

"That's right!" He approved. He glanced outside to the sun late in its afternoon place, "I better get going now. I have more… 'hero' stuff to do."

"See you later!"

* * *

Cremia quietly made her way through the gates of town carrying two boxes with bottles of milk, trying her best to not be seen. Luckily for her, the milk bar wasn't far from the entrance at all.

Out of the corner of her eye, the older ranch girl noticed a small group of women lounging around. Their eyes immediately went to her and she heard them talking among themselves,

"Oh wow, there she is again."

"Little miss homewrecker."

"She's got a lot of nerve showing her face around here."

Cremia ignored the hurtful conversation and walked into the milk bar, where the nice greeting of the bartender was comforting to her.

"Hello Cremia."

"Top of the morning." She forced a small smile, "Here's the milk you requested." She placed the boxes on the bar.

"Thank you for the hard work." He expressed.

As she turned around to leave a friend greeted her, "Hey Cremia!"

"Hello John." She quietly greeted, "Have you been well?"

"I've been great ! I just won big at the Treasure Chest shop. I couldn't feel better! What about you?"

"Wow, that's pretty lucky. But I'm not feeling as good."

"That's a shame." He sympathized, "Lately tongues have been wagging left and right around here. I… take it you know the rest."

She did, "I know… but…" All of a sudden she got slapped hard on her right cheek; it hurt so bad her vision blurred for a second.

"What's the problem dear?" She heard John say.

The aggressor was John's wife, figures.

"I told you I don't want you talking to her!" She ranted, "So! One husband isn't enough for you huh? You gotta steal MY husband now? Huh?" She yelled in Cremia's face.

John gently grabbed his angry wife, "Sweetheart I told you she's been my friend for a long time."

She ignored her husband and pushed him behind her, keeping her eyes focused on Cremia, "I hear about you all over town missy. Everyone's been talking. Now if I catch you talking to my man again, you're going to wish you had never been born, got it?" She threatened in a low tone.

That wasn't much of a warning to Cremia, seeing that her life was a living hell enough as it is.

The usually calm bartender left his spot behind the counter to step in, "All right that's enough. I think it's time for everyone to go home and calm down."

The mad woman shot Cremia an angry look before grabbing John and storming out.

"Thank you so much sir." Cremia thanked the bartender.

He shook his head, "Not a problem, say Cremia…"

She stopped to listen.

"Don't listen to them; they don't know anything about you, and I know you're not that kind of person."

"Thank you sir, I just hope this gets resolved soon…"

"Just hang in there, every storm runs out of rain eventually."

With that, she nodded and left the bar.

Outside, things just escalated. Now the irate female was chatting loudly and going about a mile a minute with the women idling about from before.

John was among them, "Baby please we were just talking!"

"Oh no… I don't believe it she got to you too!" One of the women shouted.

Even though it wasn't true, Cremia immediately felt the red-hot shame flood; tears instantly built up in her eyes.

"There she is now!"

She bolted out of the gate, quickly boarded her carriage and signaled her horse to take off without even making sure everything was secure first.

Tears flew from her eyes as the wind brushed her face, she sobbed softly all the way home.

* * *

Romani aimed her bow carefully to the swaying ghost balloon. She was about to take a shot when she heard the sound of her sister coming home.

Putting her brightest smile on she rushed to the incoming carriage, "Sister, welcome home! Did you have a safe trip?"

The sight of her older sister sobbing put her on guard, "Sissy!? Oh no…"

Cremia leapt off the carriage and immediately bolted into their house. Romani didn't even blink an eye, she chased after her sister with the same fortitude.

Her big sister had dashed up the stairs and slammed their bedroom door shut. Romani followed and tried to open the door, but was only able to jiggle the handle. Cremia had locked the door.

Inside the bedroom, Cremia grabbed her pillow from her bed and half-sobbed, half-screamed into it.

"Sister open the door!" She pleaded, knocking on the door.

Cremia was mindful of her worried younger sister, she threw her pillow back and wiped her eyes with her arms before opening the door.

Romani immediately hopped in before she could change her mind, "Sister… Romani doesn't know the pain you're feeling. But… I just want you to know that you are you are worth a lot."

Cremia looked at her smiling sister.

"Romani knows you're worth more than gold. No label will change that! Plus, I'm always here for you."

"… Romani… thank you."

The two sisters embraced, with Cremia promising herself that she try her best to look at future days with as much positivity as possible. She recalled the words of the bartender,

"_Just hang in there, every storm runs out of rain eventually."_

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Inspiration from this actually came from a situation I was in a few years ago in high school. Yeah... those times can be so mean.**

**Hope ya liked this :)**

_**"Trust the one  
Who's been where you are wishing all it was  
Was sticks and stones  
Yeah, the words cut deep but they don't mean you're all alone  
And you're not invisible  
Hear me out,  
There's so much more of this life than what you're feeling now  
And someday you'll look back on all these days  
And all this pain is gonna be invisible"**_

_**\- Hunter Hayes, from the song "Invisible".**_


	2. Chapter 2: Saving Cremia

_Sister's best friend is Anju, she's the nice lady who works in town at the Stock Pot Inn. They exchanged many letters, not one of them went unanswered to the other. The two had always shared everything for as long as I can remember. _

_However there was one thing that my sister could never tell. _

_There's someone in town she likes, I mean REALLY likes. That person's name is Kafei and he's Anju's boyfriend. As much heaviness my sister felt from their relationship, she kept her feelings contained for the sake of their friendship and Anju's happiness._

_But then the letter came with the news, Anju announced her engagement. That letter hasn't left the floor from the moment my sister dropped it from surprise, now it rests in the hay pile we keep in the corner of our front room._

_I could see her heart break in her eyes, it was like a part of her died. I listened to her cry herself to sleep that night. It was like her feelings were a bottle of shaken soda, and the lid just burst. As hurt as she was, she knew deep down that it was for the best to get over him. So for a while she was okay. _

_Now that man is missing, and everyone's turned on her..._

_Sometimes she falls apart, and at times I'm afraid she'll lose her mind._

_She knows that I'll always be there. I'll wipe the tears right off her face and tell her everything's okay, just to see her smile. _

_Father… I wish he was here… I know he would be able to help._

_I can't let her live this way, I'll keep promising her that we can get through this. No matter how much it hurts._

_I comforted her with the words Grasshopper told me, and she smiled that bright smile that I hadn't seen since she received that letter._

_I hope they find him soon and clear my sister's good name!_

* * *

I stared at my ceiling from my bed, smiling now that everything is all right.

Now Anju walks down the aisle with no uncertainties, when Kafei takes her hand, Cremia won't feel pain. Her heart has let him go. Now she can move on with her life and Anju will still be her friend.

Grasshopper… I'm so grateful for him, and everything he's done for us. It was amazing for him to stop them, and to help Sister with the deliveries, but most of all for giving Cremia that bit of comfort she needed.

Thank you Link, for returning peace to our ranch!

* * *

**Author's Note: So... I decided to add to this a little more. I might still add more x3. **

**Confession: I got a little teary writing this... ^_^' maybe because there was a sad song playing on the radio at the same time... but still... XD**


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